Fred Wesley
& The New JB’s
24th March 2013 – The Corner – Melb
27th March – Upstairs Beresford – Sydney
"We speak of love and happiness: for me, happiness is Fred Wesley playing his horn." James Brown
Niche Productions is proud to announce the return of Funk founder Fred Wesley and his band The New JBs. Instrumental in providing James Brown with a signature sound throughout his career, Fred Wesley is one of the most important musicians in Soul music history.
Born in Columbus, Georgia, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Fred Wesley began his professional career as a teenage trombonist with Ike and Tina Turner. He later was music director, arranger, trombonist and a primary composer for James Brown from 1968-1975, then arranged for and played with Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy’s Rubber Band.
With Brown and as leader of his backing band The JBs, Wesley “was the world’s most famous sideman, orchestrating the sinuous grooves and contributing the bold, surgically precise solos that defined the language of funk.” In teaming with George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, he played a key role in taking funk to the next level.
Seminal hits he helped create include Brown’s ‘Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)’, ‘The Big Payback’, ‘Doing it to Death (Funky Good Time)’, ‘Pass the Peas’ and ‘Papa Don’t Take No Mess’. Others include Parliament’s ‘P-Funk’ and ‘Flashlight’, as well as Bootsy Collins’ ‘Stretching Out’, and ‘I’d Rather Be With You’ and of course Wesley’s own Disco classic ‘House Party’.
Author of the critically acclaimed memoir, ‘Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Side Man’ (Duke University Press 2002), Wesley is recognized as one of music’s most-sampled artists, behind Brown and Clinton. Artists who have sampled his work include Janet Jackson (‘That’s The Way Love Goes’) and the rapper Nas (‘Nastradamus’).
A veteran of the renowned Count Basie Orchestra, Wesley also has played with and arranged for a wide variety of other artists including Ray Charles, Pancho Sanchez, New York Voices, Slide Hampton, Van Morrison, Usher, the SOS Band and Cameo.
Do not miss this opportunity to see a living legend performing some of the most powerful music ever committed to tape in these wonderful spaces.
Niche Productions presents Fred Wesley & The New JBs + Special Guests
Sunday 24th March 2013 – The Corner – Melb
Tickets: www.cornerhotel.com
Wednesday 27th March 2013 – Upstairs Beresford – Sydney
Tickets: www.moshtix.com.au
Tickets on sale Friday 2nd November
